Wallander- Firewall, 2008

Mise en scene is used to create a very sinister atmosphere in the opening sequence of Wallander. The Mise en scene involves two girls, who seem innocent ordinary at first. However, as the piece progresses, more and more clues are revealed throughout, revealing to the audience that the two girls are in fact not at all innocent or ordinary. For example, the costume for one of the girls indicates that she has a slightly rebellious side. She is wearing a leather jacket, with a red streak in her hair and dog tag for a necklace. This shows that she is not a stereotypical girly girl, and the leather jacket has connotations of a punkish nature. Furthermore, we can tell that the girls are not innocent as it is revealed later on that one of them is holding a knife, plus they are all covered in blood. This is clearly quite suspicious and therefore makes it obvious that they have done something wrong.

The editing also reveals that the girls are not innocent at all. Throughout the extract, the camera cuts from a shot of the girls walking to a very weak and almost lifeless man, covered in blood, inside a taxi. The continuous cuts back and forth throughout the piece strongly suggest that some form of fight or struggle has occurred between the girls and the taxi driver. As the two girls seem to be unharmed, whereas the taxi driver is almost dead, we are left to assume that he is the victim of the scene.

 

The sound of the piece creates a a very sinister theme. For example, the music playing is diegetic and coming from the taxi. The music playing is quite happy which juxtaposes the dark nature of the piece. The fact that the radio is still playing even given the circumstances suggests that maybe the attack on the taxi driver was unexpected. This again emphasises how guilty the girls are of attacking the man.  

 The final shot is a close up of one of the girls holding a knife covered in blood in her hands. She then proceeds to drop the knife on the floor, in the middle of an open expanse of ground. The fact that she is not even attempting to conceal the knife indicates to the audience that she has not been involved in a serious crime like this before and does not know what to do, or she is in too much of a state of rage or panic that she can not think clearly. This therefore suggests that maybe she is not actually at fault for the crime after all; perhaps it was self defence.